Corporate Office:

General Reproduction Products Introduces Wide Format Printing to Postal Plus’ Service Offering Line

Increases Revenue Stream, Promoting the Company’s Growth

“GRP was ahead of schedule throughout the entirety of this transaction. They came in, set it all up, trained me… couldn’t have been easier. GRP would certainly be the first phone call I make if I need anything else related to copying and printing.”

— Amanda Ahlers, Owner, Postal Plus

Executive Summary

Challenges

Looking to expand service offerings

Decrease in shipping sales, a reliable revenue stream in the past

Obtaining a wide format printer that would offer them the most bang for the buck

Keep customers in house, rather than obtaining services from outside sources

Solution

HP Designjet T2300 eMFP

Results

Increased prospective clientele base

Increased service offerings

Increased incoming revenue streams

Promoted business growth

Overview

Orange County New York headquartered company; Postal Plus — an owner operated business — was looking for a way to expand their service offerings to their current and prospective clientele. As it stood, Postal Plus was an authorized UPS and FedEx
shipping center that also offered a full range of business services such as per hour
clerical services, book keeping, copying, printing, laminating, binding, computer
workstation rentals, and others.

However with a decline in physical shipping sales due to a rise in online business
transactions, Postal Plus needed to realign some operative ideas in order to keep the
doors open and different revenue streams flowing in to sustain business growth. The
solution they decided would help them achieve this goal was implementing a wide
format printing service that would benefit their current clientele, as well as allowing
them the opportunity to bring in new prospective customers. They contacted
General Reproduction Products upon a mutual contact’s referral to help them get the
ball rolling on their new venture.

“Postal Plus had been evaluating expanding into the wide format printing space
for some time, but this plan was expedited when they were able to take over the
vacant space of the company that was right next to their business,” said General
Reproduction Products’ Sales and Marketing Manager, Duke Hoogland. “They now
had the space to expand and to add wide-format capabilities. Once they engaged us
(GRP) in discussions, we worked closely for several weeks before finalizing the lease/
sale of an HP Designjet T2300 eMFP system to them.”

Challenges

Postal Plus faced a single challenge in giving their business a boost: implement a
solution that would give them the most bang for their buck. They wanted to put
into place a machine that offered the most working capabilities at a reasonable cost
(many wide-format printers are prices at $100,000).

“The challenge of it all was how to offer services in our store that would keep more
of our customers in-house,” said Postal Plus owner, Amanda Ahlers. “We have a lot
of customers who regularly ship with us actually go to a different store to have their
wide format printing needs initiated. After completing their prints, they would then
literally walk out of that store and drive down here to ship the print out with us. So
what we were trying to achieve, was the idea of keeping all of their business needs
under one roof which is a win-win for both parties.”

Ahlers was considering three different vendors before deciding on GRP to outfit them with a wide format printing unit.

“Postal Plus was looking for the most cost effective solution that provided the applications they desired — which included copying, scanning and printing in B&W and Color — but this depended on the price-point of a system that would satisfy all these requirements,” said Hoogland. “They also had to evaluate their R.O.I. after factoring-in the cost of their system and consumables such as paper and ink.”

“GRP is fantastic. They’re very professional, and great to deal with. I would highly recommend them to anybody.”

— Amanda Ahlers, Owner, Postal Plus

Implementation / Business Impacts:

Ahlers appreciated Hoogland’s cut and dry approach. She liked the fact that Duke was local and could appreciate the business benefits of working with somebody who could quickly drive to the site of an issue in order to provide reassurance and resolve any problems quickly and in a personal manner.

“GRP was a much better deal when it came to getting the most for your money,” Ahlers said. “Sometimes companies give you 15 page contracts that are cumbersome to look through while you’re trying to weed through the fine print attempting to figure out what’s included with your purchase and what your added fees are.”

“Duke gave me a one page document that just summed the whole thing up. It was cut and dry — simple… no fine print. It was what it was. At the end of our 5 year lease we can purchase the machine for $1. So essentially it’s more like I’m actually making payments on the machine where as in a typical lease you pay all this money and the machine leaves in the end. I felt this was the best and most beneficial deal all around for the company.”

Along with offering the best solution at the best price, GRP also pride themselves on their customer service, and what they contribute to the success of an implemented campaign in that regard.

“As part of the solution, Postal Plus was receiving delivery, installation, training and a product warranty that were very competitive. We gave them the assurance that GRP would be there through the initial process as well as the long term, to help them with any issues, as well as to service their equipment and provide them the consumables they need,” said Hoogland.

“GRP was ahead of schedule throughout the entirety of this transaction,” Ahlers said. “They came in, set it all up, trained me… couldn’t have been easier. GRP would certainly be the first phone call I make if I need anything else related to copying and printing.”

“I was actually very nervous and very scared about this due to the fact that I didn’t really have any knowledge in this realm of printing. You don’t really know what you’re looking for — what you’re not looking for... After speaking with Duke, he put it all into a perspective I could understand, which I really appreciated. He made me feel comfortable purchasing a piece of equipment that would work for me and handle all of my needs.”

“I can honestly tell you that I had made my decision to go with GRP after my first discussion with Duke. They were honest, they were professional — it was very simple, and very stress-free. It wasn’t a long drawn out process. It was just, ‘here, sign this paper and everything else will fall into place.’”

Outlook:

To date, Postal Plus is very excited about the acquisition of their HP Designjet T2300 eMFP unit. They have been presented with the opportunity to break into the market which includes architects, engineers, construction companies, design-houses and public utilities companies. They have allowed their customers the prospect of not having to drive to two separate locations to handle their wide format needs, and the means to ship the prints off upon completion of the print job is a sentiment that has been welcomed warmly.

“GRP is fantastic,” Ahlers said. “They’re very professional, and great to deal with. I would highly recommend them to anybody. When you deal with your average copier salesman, they’re fantastic when you’re ready to purchase a new machine. They come and talk to you — they would wine and dine you if they could. However as soon as you buy the machine and they get their commission check, they seem to disappear. With Duke and the folks at GRP, if you I call them a month from now and say, ‘I have a question, can you help me?’ — they’re completely receptive to it. It’s a warm feeling in comparison to a large company where their business matters are generally automated. There’s no personal feel in that. With GRP you’re treated as if you’re a part of their family, and I hope to keep the relationship going for a long time to come.”

Contact GRP

Duke Hoogland

About GRP

We are a 47 year-old company and a leading supplier of reprographics systems and solutions to the AEC market, serving the quad-state area. Our product line consists of Oce, HP and Seiko wide format digital multi function engineering copier/printing/scanning solutions, as well as a full line of Contex scanning solutions. In addition to being an equipment dealer, our services include: equipment maintenance and service programs, supplies such as paper, toner and drafting supplies, as well as a wide variety of printing and copying services.

Contact Postal Plus

Amanda Ahlers

About Postal Plus:

Postal Plus has been in operation since 1991. We offer a full range of business services such as per hour clerical services, book keeping, copying, printing, laminating, binding, wide format printing, computer workstation rentals, and other retail offerings. Our business is based on the belief that our customers’ needs are of the utmost importance. Our entire team is committed to meeting those expectations. As a result, a high percentage of our business is from repeat customers and referrals.